Trump’s Iran Strike and the Regime Change Debate

Summary

The Chris Cuomo Project

Episode: Trump’s Iran Strike and the Regime Change Debate

Date: March 8, 2026
Host: Chris Cuomo
Guests/Callers: John Bolton, Congressman Mike, and various listeners

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Episode Overview

This episode focuses on the U.S. strike on Iran under President Trump and the broader debate on regime change. Chris Cuomo dives into the military and political strategic implications with John Bolton and Congressman Mike, and opens the floor to callers for a range of public responses. The discussion revolves around questions of necessity, planning, aftermath, and American moral and strategic responsibilities, with particular emphasis on lessons from Iraq and Afghanistan.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. John Bolton’s Take on Regime Change and Planning (02:21-12:23)

• Bolton supports regime change as the only viable way to eliminate the threats posed by Iran (03:09).
• Critical of administration’s planning:
  • Insufficient public and congressional preparation.
  • A lack of groundwork with allies.
  • Inadequate consultation with the Iranian opposition.
• Military vs. political planning: Military operations are coordinated and effective so far, especially in cooperation with Israel. However, political planning lags behind (03:14).
• Quote (John Bolton):

  “They didn't prepare the general public well enough in advance. There's a strong case to be made here for regime change. He didn't start making it until 2:30 in the morning of the day.” (04:00)

• Importance of ethnic minorities: Bolton notes the regime is at its weakest, partially due to internal ethnic dissent (Kurds, Azeris, Balookis, Arabs), and advocates better organizing these groups to fragment the regime (07:54).
• Historic U.S. role: Acknowledges American responsibility in Iran’s history, both supporting the Shah and in failing to support subsequent opposition movements (08:52).
• Power vacuum risks: Warns of chaos if the regime collapses without a plan, even possibly needing U.S. troops to secure nuclear sites (11:48).

2. Strategic and Legal Considerations – Congressman Mike (15:12-21:55)

• Military success acknowledged, political process questioned:
  • The decision was difficult but necessary given Iran’s actions and past U.S. failures to curb its ambitions.
• Congressional notification: Several members felt more explanation should have been provided, but full advance notification would have risked the operation (19:03).
• War declaration and process: Concern about the lack of clear “imminent threat” justification for war and the absence of a defined endgame.
• Legal authority:
  • Both parties’ presidents have used Article 2 powers to strike militarily without explicit congressional approval (21:01).
  • Quote (Mike):

    “Presidents of both parties going back to 1973 have used Article 2 powers to conduct targeted strikes, conduct military operations without ever receiving any authorization by Congress.” (21:35)

3. Callers’ Perspectives

a. Ethical, Strategic, and Political Concerns

• Greg (24:23): Argues “better late than never” but downplays the complexity of what comes after regime change, even suggesting bombing as a solution.
  • Cuomo pushes back, warning against confusing hatred for the regime with the challenge of a responsible path forward, referencing the backlash against endless wars (25:00-25:43).
  • Quote (Cuomo):

    “I have no problem with hating the regime, wanting the regime to change...But the how, I think discarding the process altogether...that's the missed opportunity here.” (25:05)

• Sean, retired Navy (29:44): Denounces talk of dropping a nuclear bomb as “asinine,” emphasizes the real costs for military personnel, and underscores the lack of a plan for what happens after regime collapse.
  • Advocates for careful planning to avoid repeating Iraq or Afghanistan errors (30:09-32:41).
  • Quote (Sean):

    “To hear someone in the United States say they would prefer a nuclear weapon be used on a foreign nation is asinine...The problem is the strategic political aspect of it is not well thought out.” (30:09, 33:20)

b. Media, Bipartisanship, and U.S. Political Dynamics

• Caller D (35:46): Criticizes both parties, lamenting escalating partisanship and warning that neither side has a monopoly on mistakes.

  • Cuomo notes:

    “I don't do we. I don't do us and them, okay?...I want to destroy the game.” (37:00)

• TC (Massachusetts) (35:46): Voices uncertainty, says it’s legitimate to be “curious and concerned” without being for or against the strike, pointing out Democrats would oppose regime change regardless of outcome out of partisanship (39:02).

4. The Saudi and Regional Dynamics (41:55-44:44)

• Jay, North Carolina: Emphasizes Saudi Arabia's critical role in regime change and potential collaboration, noting it could cut off China’s oil and shift alliances.
  • Cuomo acknowledges that while cooperation with the Saudis is closer than ever, regional complexities and the risk of a broader conflict remain massive.

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Notable Quotes & Moments

| Timestamp | Speaker | Quote/Insight | |-----------|---------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 04:00 | John Bolton | “They didn't prepare the general public well enough in advance. ...He didn't start making it until 2:30...” | | 07:54 | John Bolton | “Kurds, Azeris, Balookis, Arabs, all very unhappy. ...the regime is at its weakest, lowest level of support”| | 08:52 | John Bolton | “We have a long association with Iran...What happened in 1979 was an Earth shaking event.” | | 11:48 | John Bolton | “If the regime crumbles...might be a situation in chaos when American boots on the ground would be necessary”| | 17:34 | Chris Cuomo | “Why regime is bad is easy. How you get rid of the regime and how we don't get stuck in a situation is hard.”| | 21:35 | Mike | “Presidents of both parties...have used Article 2 powers...without ever receiving any authorization...” | | 25:05 | Chris Cuomo | “I have no problem with hating the regime...But the how...that's the missed opportunity here.” | | 30:09 | Sean | “To hear someone in the United States say they would prefer a nuclear weapon be used on a foreign nation is asinine.”| | 33:20 | Sean | “The problem is the strategic political aspect of it is not well thought out. And there's no plan going forward.”| | 37:00 | Chris Cuomo | “I don't do we. I don't do us and them, okay?...I want to destroy the game.” | | 39:02 | Chris Cuomo | “You don't have to be for or against it. You're in the exact right place. Curious, concerned...” |

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• 02:21-12:23 – John Bolton in-depth interview on regime change, preparation, and aftermath concerns
• 15:12-21:55 – Congressman Mike on Congress’ role, military success, legalities
• 24:23-30:09 – Callers respond; ethical and practical considerations, focus on Greg and Sean's calls
• 35:46-41:37 – Discussion broadens to party politics, legitimacy of skepticism, and process accountability
• 41:55-44:44 – The role of Saudi Arabia, regional alliances, and implications for post-regime Iran

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Episode Tone and Takeaways

Chris Cuomo maintains his signature independent, probing tone, repeatedly returning to the theme: “It’s not about whether the regime is bad, but whether we’re doing this the right way, with a plan for what comes after.” The conversation avoids blind partisanship and seeks accountability, practical strategy, and genuine debate over America’s role and interests.

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Bottom Line

This episode is a comprehensive debate on the risks and rationale of U.S. military action in Iran and the possibility—and perils—of regime change. The discussion, marked by frank exchanges and hard questions, emphasizes that the removal of a hostile regime is only the beginning of a much tougher and more consequential challenge: what comes next, and who must be held responsible for the process and consequences.

Transcript

[Chris Cuomo]

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[John Bolton]

I am.

[Chris Cuomo]

Ah, Mr. Ambassador, always a pleasure. Thank you for giving us time in the early morning. What is your assessment of the level of confidence you have that the administration has thought out the now what? Now what? Now what? To get the regime change and the reduction of risk that they say we need and to have this end up in a better place, not a power vacuum where we don't know what's going to happen?

[John Bolton]

Well, to start, I do think the objectives are completely correct. I don't think there's any chance the regime in Iran would ever have given up its nuclear weapons program or its support for international terrorism. And so therefore, if you want to eliminate those threats, you have to eliminate the regime, I think.

[Chris Cuomo]

And you did say recently you wish you had pushed Trump more to do this sooner. Why?

[John Bolton]

No, I mean, I, I, I, I made the argument in 2018 and 2019 and obviously didn't succeed. But he's, he is now trying to achieve the right objectives. And, and I think I would distinguish between the political side of things and the military side of things. The military operations to date indicate the kind of planning you'd expect from the Pentagon. Very close cooperation with Israel, which is essential and, and so far strikingly successful. Knock on wood. It stays that way. It, it stands in, however, to planning on the political side, where I think there are risks to Trump himself and to the plan and to the country. I don't think he prepared the American people well enough in advance. There's a strong case to be made here for regime change. He didn't start making it until 2:30 in the morning of the day.

[Chris Cuomo]

Well, they say it's not a priority. They say regime change is not a thing. It's not even on the list.

[John Bolton]

Well, that's what Trump has been saying until the past few days, which they've tried to roll back because they're worried about the Maga bas. But let's be clear, regime change is Israel's number one priority. It's been Bibi Netanyahu's priority longer than it's been mine. And we are assisting Israel in effecting regime change. We gave the Israelis the intelligence, according to the press reports, about where the Ayatollah Khamenei was, and the Israelis took him out. So we're in this together with the Israelis. It's regime change, whatever the rhetorical posture at the White House is at any given time. But in addition to not preparing the general public, they didn't prepare Congress. I'm not saying you have to tell Congress what the operation looks like. You have to make the case that regime change is the only acceptable alternative. They didn't do that. They didn't. Third point, they didn't prepare the groundwork with the allies. And we see some of the consequences of this now that could hurt us later. And finally, I'm very worried on the last point that you raised. I'm very worried that consultation with the opposition in Iran has not been adequate. It's the people on the ground there who can help us fragment the regime at the top, bring it apart as we destroy the instruments of state power. They're the ones that can identify the generals in the regular army, for example, who might well come over to the opposition side. And that's what we need to bring the regime down.

[Chris Cuomo]

So one of the fundamentals of strategy, of any form of aggression is to take advantage of a created opportunity. What I don't understand is arming, working with, motivating with Mossad, Iranian Kurds, smart warrior culture. As you know, for people who don't know them, they're in the northwest corner of Iran, but they're also in Iraq, and they have an area around Turkey that they believe is Kurdistan, their own country. I've spent time with them. They have fought a lot, and they hate the regime. But why start now? If you've been planning this for months, why wasn't that part of the early planning?

[John Bolton]

Well, I think the time to have done it optimally would have been in January when the Iranian people were already in the street and Trump himself tweeted or posted, keep protesting, Take control of your institutions. Help is on its way. But help wasn't coming. That shows an absence of advanced planning on the political side, not necessarily on the military side. Now, there are press reports this morning that Trump yesterday spoke with Iraqi Kurdish leaders Barzani and Talibani, the heads of the two big families, really the main Kurdish figure there. So that, you know, better late than never. But I wish we had done it months and months ago.

[Caller Greg]

Yeah.

[Chris Cuomo]

Because this is the opportunity. Right. This is when you would want them to be hitting the regime and pressuring IRGC guys to think about what they want for their future. And it just seems like that's the missed opportunity here. And just to remind people again, well, why is he meeting with people in Iraq? We're going into Iraq now. No, What Mike is laying out to you is the savvy of someone who understands. And now hopefully that's what's understood also within the administration. The Kurds are clan based. Meaning what? Meaning you attack one, you attack all. And even if they have internal divisions, they can call on their neighbors in Iraq, which is literally contiguous. Right. It's an adjoining border and say, we're getting into this fight, you got to come with us. And they can be motivated to do it. And you can go from having 9% of the population, let's say 2 million available warrior class people to 5 in no time. Is that right?

[Caller D]

Yeah.

[John Bolton]

This is one of the frictions that the regime faces, as many of the ethnic groups inside Iran are highly dissatisfied with the regime. And it depends on what census you use, but the Persian population of Iran, 90 million people altogether, is only 50 or 60% Kurds, Azeris, Balookis, Arabs, all very unhappy. And that's part of the reason the regime at this moment is at the weakest. It's been, has the lowest level of popular support at any time since it took power in 1979.

[Chris Cuomo]

Also, does America have a little bit of a responsibility for how they went down this deep hole with how the Shah came in, went out and how these guys came in. And I keep telling the audience, not organic. These people are not from Iran, they're outsiders. Iran, Persian culture is not Islamist by nature. And do you believe there's a little bit of a responsibility to help the people there get their country back?

[John Bolton]

Well, look, we have a long association with Iran. It is the case that we helped put the Shah, kept the Shah in power really in 1953. People still remember that. But it lasted for 26 years. And frankly, even in the Carter administration, if the Shah had followed Carter and Brzezinski's advice, he might have toughed out the effort there. What happened in 1979 was an Earth shaking event. We went from an Iran that was a strong American ally to an Iran that was one of America's worst enemies in the world. And the chance to turn that around here is another potential world historical event. So I think we've got a lot at stake and we do have an interest in the outcome.

[Chris Cuomo]

Now the idea of, look, we're not about regime change. Well then what happens if you don't wipe out the regime, then this is just about time. Right, before they can work with proxies again and get their capacity back up.

[John Bolton]

Absolutely. That's, you know, you've got two alternatives. When you've got a foreign country that's doing things you don't like, you can either try and change their behavior or failing that, you change the regime. Regime. It's a cost benefit analysis. We've tried for 25 or 30 years to change the regime's behavior. It's not going to work. I mean the proof is clear. So therefore we should change the regime. And the sooner the better. What the degrading of the instruments of state power that both threaten us and repress the Iranian people, Revolutionary Guard, the Quds Force, the besieging militia is you're destroying their capability to threaten us and to harm their own people. And the more they are degraded, the more people in Iran, in the opposition and in the government begin to say this regime is on its way down. And for the people in the regular military, some in the Revolutionary Guard, even some Ayatollahs are going to say Maybe I don't want to go down with this ship. That's where the opposition becomes key. They can find those people, they can work with them. I hope. Quiet conversations with those kinds of figures in the regime are going on right now to help fracture the regime at the top and that facilitates its collapse.

[Chris Cuomo]

What are your two questions going forward and what is your concern about whether or not we have the right answers?

[John Bolton]

More than anything else, it's cooperation with the opposition and their capabilities inside Iran to help bring about regime change. And then number two, to make sure with the Gulf Arabs in particular, that, that they understand that they've wanted regime change for a long time. They just wanted to do it without any pain and strain. Okay, we're in it now. We need to keep them together. This is the. If you ever want peace and security in the Middle east, overthrowing the regime in Tehran is critical and therefore it's critical for the oil producing Arab monarchies. We need to be locked in lockstep with them as we go forward here and we'll maximize the chance for success.

[Chris Cuomo]

But what happens if the regime crumbles, but there's a power vacuum and we don't have any sense of what comes next?

[John Bolton]

Well, that's a risk, there's no question about it. I don't think any succeeding government could conceivably be worse than the one we have now and might be in a situation in chaos when American boots on the ground would be necessary, for example, to take control of the nuclear facilities at Natanz, Esfahan and Fordo and perhaps other places to make sure whatever's there doesn't get into the wrong hands.

[Chris Cuomo]

Ambassador Bolton, thank you very much. I appreciate you laying out a fair analysis of the plus minus on this and what we got to think about going forward. I appreciate you. Thank you for joining me. I look forward to talking to you again.

[John Bolton]

Absolutely. Thank you.

[Chris Cuomo]

You like that taste of Cuomo Mornings? That's my new show on SiriusXM, the Potish Channel 124 every weekday morning, 7 to 9 Eastern. But if you want to just join here on my YouTube channel, you'll be getting a steady diet of selects and depending on your subscription level, you can have priority call in on that show. You can have more access to me to ask questions, smaller groups, individual conversations about what matters to you. It's all about your level of subscriber. So on the regular basis we'll be putting excerpts of the show that resonate right here and how much access you get is up to you. So check out the menu and make the choice that works best for your appetite. Support comes from Ethos Ecom. Okay? Use it. Use my code. Why? Because life insurance matters. Because your responsibilities matter. And if you're young and healthy, you can get like $3 million in term coverage for like 30 bucks a month right now without seeing a doctor with just doing it online. Why? Because they're good at what they do and they know how to do it. That's why they have thousands of positive reviews. Yeah, well, I'm not young and super healthy and I got a pre existing condition. They have partners that work with your needs and your budget and your responsibilities. That's why I partner with them. Otherwise I would not. So I did the work. Ethos.com check them out. Check out their reviews online. Check out how they do it. Check out how much they've placed ethos.com cuomo and in as little as 10 minutes, you can get a free quote and up to $3 million in [e-mail] Cuomo all right. Use my name, tell them I sent you, things will go better. And of course, application times and rates are going to vary because everybody's experience is different and nothing is free. But if you want to do it right, efficiently, okay. Ethos.come T H O S.com Cuomo Mike, it's good to have you. For people who have not followed you, I Mike is young and I have been talking for some time that he is absolutely part of the present and certainly the future for the Republican Party. He is a traditional conservative and he is a. He's a get it done guy, which makes it very tough for him in the current political space. The Iran operation, what are your thoughts on it to this point?

[Mike]

Look, this has been a tremendous operation in, you know, we're on day five now and many of the objectives that the administration laid out yesterday in a classified brief, two members of Congress they're executing on. When you look at the situation in Iran, the fact is they were not negotiating in good faith. They were not willing to give up their ballistic missiles program. They were not willing to even discuss the issue of financing terrorism around the globe. They were working to reestablish their nuclear ambitions. And obviously we saw just a few weeks ago the oppression and slaughter of tens of thousands of Iranian people. This was an oppressive regime in place for 47 years, a regime built on tyranny and terror. And ultimately the president made a difficult but in my opinion, necessary decision to eliminate the threat. This has been going on for a very long time. Thousands of Americans have died at the hands of the Ayatollah and his regime and their terror proxies in the region. And, you know, presidents of both parties said they could not have a nuclear weapon. Members of Congress from both parties said they could not have a nuclear weapon, said that they, the Ayatollah, needed to be removed. Ultimately, the decision was made, and it is a difficult one, but in my opinion, necessary.

[Chris Cuomo]

Would you have done it the same way

[Mike]

in terms of the execution or in terms of the process?

[Chris Cuomo]

Because the execution is not. The execution is not up to you guys. The execution is not up to the President. The execution is up to the military. And nobody is doubting the United States military's capability. Although I would like to know if we hit that school. And you guys should be more curious about that because we learned from the Israel, Gaza situation. You can't let situations like that fester. However, I'm talking about the process and what we're getting in terms of why we did this and what's going to happen next.

[Caller D]

Yeah.

[Mike]

So the classified brief that we received yesterday, I thought was pretty extensive. I know many of my Democratic colleagues will argue that, you know, they didn't have all their questions answered, but from my vantage point, the administration and in particular Secretary Rubio and Secretary Hegseth and Director Radcliffe and General Kaine did a very good job of outlining why the President made this decision. I think, you know, the challenge with Congress, you have, you know, that's the easy part.

[Caller D]

No, no, no.

[Mike]

I'm just, why.

[Chris Cuomo]

Why regime is bad is easy. How you get rid of the regime and how we don't get stuck in a situation is hard. That's why I'm asking.

[Mike]

No, no question. And we don't want to be in a quagmire, and we don't want to be in a, in a situation similar to Iraq or Afghanistan where we're there for 10, 20 years. And I don't think anybody is advocating for that. Nobody in the regime in the, you know, in the administration is advocating for that. But when you look at the situation on the grant and what the objectives are that were outlined to us yesterday, they are executing on that and doing it very, very well. Do I think that, you know, more could have been done on the front end to explain some of this to members of Congress?

[Caller Greg]

Sure.

[Mike]

But at the same token, I fundamentally know, dealing with some of my colleagues and given the sensitive nature of this type of operation informing 435 members of Congress probably would have been cataclysmic for the security of the operation. So there are reasons why, you know, people were not fully informed in advance of this type of operation. And I have no problem with that.

[Chris Cuomo]

The legal requirement, the architecture of the statute is vague. But the idea that, well, if you don't notify all435, you've done it wrong, I think that's the wrong bar. I think that's legally specious and I think it's politically impractical. Always. That's not my concern. My concern is he just declared war on Iran. Okay. He calls it a war. He says it's going to last weeks. He says we'll probably lose more people. They're not foreclosing the idea of boots on the ground. That's a war, Mike. Okay? You guys are supposed to be involved in this, the right way to do it. Unless there is an imminency. And I have not heard that case, Mike, that I had to do it now. They were going to hurt us if I didn't do it right. Now he hasn't even offered that up as a suggestion except as a band aid for criticism. That's what I'm saying. If not now, when?

[Mike]

I want to make two points.

[Chris Cuomo]

Go ahead.

[Mike]

I want to make two points. One with respect to the imminence and I have to be careful in how.

[Chris Cuomo]

I do not want you to give away confidential information.

[Mike]

Yeah. The bottom line is that they were producing the ballistic missiles at such a rate that it would, it would become untenable in the future to be able

[Caller Greg]

to

[Mike]

ensure they did not get a nuclear weapon. You have to remember they do have enriched uranium. This, this was an untenable situation that needed to be addressed, number one. Number two, as far as the legalities and you know, informing Congress and they need congressional authorization, this is an important point. Presidents of both parties going back to 1973 have used Article 2 powers to conduct targeted strikes, conduct military operations without ever receiving any authorization by Congress.

[Chris Cuomo]

You are right.

[Mike]

Nancy Pelosi in 2011 said that Barack Obama in a seven month campaign, a seven month campaign in Libya doing precisely what President Trump is doing right now, did not need congressional authorization.

[Chris Cuomo]

You are right.

[Mike]

Fully in compliance with the War Powers act and has notified.

[Chris Cuomo]

You are right. He is not the first and he's not even the worst yet. All right, we're at the top of the hour, Mike. I'm going to give you your day back. Congressman, you are always welcome here to make the case and thank you for doing so this morning. Support comes from Quince. A Quince is a fruit. Okay, you don't know that because you're not me. But you know what else it is? Quince is a very cool designer line. Why fabrics, design, essentials, wear, feel, price point. Quince has the things that you're going to be wearing on a regular basis and they hold up despite being worn on a regular basis. Lightweight cashmere sweater, short sleeve Mongolian cashmere polo. Yeah, that's right. Short sleeve Mongolian cashmere polo. All right, that's cool. Linen bottoms and shorts, tees and 100% Pima cotton, European jersey linen. You know, all the things that really make up the ensemble that you want in your life. Quince does it directly with top factories, cuts out the middlemen, makes it easy, makes it less expensive. The cashmere is 100% Mongolian. That's a good thing. I didn't know that Mongolia was a big cashmere place. But they're big with the worms. Apparently the same stuff that luxury brands use. Pima cotton, long staple means it stays soft, doesn't pill. Right? That's the quality play. Everything is about quality, about lasting, about simplicity, about elegance, and about affordability. Right now you can go to quince.com cuomo and you'll get free shipping and 365 day returns. I mean, how do you lose if you have a year to give it back if you don't like it and get a refund, That's a full year to build your wardrobe and love it. And you will now available in Canada to my brothers and sisters. So don't keep settling for clothes that don't last. Go to Quince Q U I n c e.com cuomo and you'll get free shipping and 365 day returns. Quince.com cuomo Greg in New Jersey. What do you got, brother?

[Caller Greg]

Hey, how you doing, Chris? Thanks for taking my call.

[Chris Cuomo]

Sure, bud. What do you got?

[Caller Greg]

Yeah, I just want, I want to. I want to go back to the war. You know, everyone's talking about how Trump is a bully, this and that, blah, blah, blah. But I mean, just, just look at our enemies abroad. Are they, aren't they bullies as well? I mean, we had the Iran Iranian hostage crisis where they held our American citizens for 144 days. They've done all this other stuff they obviously don't want. They don't like us, call us the great Satan and written in their own charters to, you know, eliminate Israel.

[Chris Cuomo]

Plenty of reasons to hate the regime, brother.

[Caller Greg]

There is good. I think, I think it's, you know, it's better late than never, I think

[Chris Cuomo]

plenty of reasons to hate the regime. I have no problem with hating the regime, wanting the regime to change, doing things to make the regime change. But the how, I think discarding the process altogether and having us in other situation now where not only is this not what he, what he was supposed to be doing, right. Maga was no more endless wars and foreign engagements that don't work for us. And this is a tricky one. This is a tricky one. But.

[Caller Greg]

Well, it's too early to say that it's an endless war.

[Chris Cuomo]

It is too early to say it. It just started, obviously, and I think it just started.

[Caller F]

We had a guest. We had a guest last night. Nagar, Sorry to interrupt both of you, but I think, you know, look, she was tough and she was somber. She's an Iranian journalist, but I think she really explained both sides of it very well. Chris, she used your favorite phrase. Two things can be true at the same time. You know, like this regime needs to go, but are we doing it the right way? Did we hit a girls school? I mean, is it, was there a girls school blown up? Is there, do they have it? There's no plan.

[Chris Cuomo]

So the issue is that aspect. Okay, which is, Greg, I'm with you, but I don't think that you can confuse the who's bad with what is good. And I don't mean that in a moral way. I mean, why are they giving us stories about what the objective is? Why are they giving us different stories about why they did it now? You know what I mean? That's the part that I don't like. It doesn't have to be that way. And in fact, it hasn't been that way in the past. Right, but who cares?

[Caller Greg]

I mean, they've been so bad to us for the past, since 1979. We should have done this a long time ago.

[Caller F]

You'd be starting wars all over the place if that was the way it.

[Caller Greg]

I mean, I mean, well, I'm talking specifically about Iran and what I think Trump may do. I don't think he has the balls to do it, is he may, he may go the same way as Truman did. He doesn't want, he doesn't want an invasion of American troops going into the Middle East. So he's just going to drop a bomb on him.

[Chris Cuomo]

I don't think.

[Caller Greg]

I mean, you know, Truman wants to

[Chris Cuomo]

drop a bomb on everybody because he'll be killing more Iranian innocents than he will regime people.

[Caller Greg]

Yeah, but it's a big picture war. It's a big picture war.

[Chris Cuomo]

Yeah, but you know what, how that works. He doesn't care Gaza because he will

[Caller Greg]

be saving the lives of American. He would be saving the lives of US arms as All I'm saying is

[Chris Cuomo]

you got to look at the political

[Caller Greg]

way to the country.

[Chris Cuomo]

You got to look at the political reality. Greg, would you want Trump to be Israel in the next election after what just happened in Gaza? How do you think that would work out for him? You know, now again, I could argue the case that the existential case that you're arguing about the regime versus AS US is nothing compared to what threat they pose to Israel and what threat Hamas poses. Right to Israel.

[Caller Greg]

I understand that.

[Chris Cuomo]

And look at how it fucking fared with the American public. That's what I'm remember 9, 11, that I remember it. I was there as the building number 9, 11.

[Caller Greg]

They are just as capable of striking us if they really want to.

[Chris Cuomo]

There is no question that they are. So again, it's not about whether they're wrong. It's about how to do it right. What I'm picking on and it's not penny ante because I'll tell you why it's not penny anti. Greg, you tell the four families and the dozens that are to come perhaps that, yeah, we did it sloppy. Yeah, they probably didn't have to die.

[Caller F]

Six families, they released the names of four, but six.

[Chris Cuomo]

Right, But I'm saying, like, you tell them that, yeah, you know, look, man, it doesn't really. It doesn't really matter. I don't really give a fuck because these guys are bad. So we did it the way we did it. He fucked it all up, but he got it done and everybody else has screwed it up too. So, you know, just be good with it. That doesn't work for me. So that's what I'm pushing on. I'm not pushing on the ambition. I'm pushing on the way to do it. And I don't think it's Penny, Anthony, because I've watched our men and women get blown up in foreign theaters and their lives changed forever.

[Caller Sean]

Right?

[Chris Cuomo]

And I want that to be worth it. You know what I'm saying? That's all.

[Caller Greg]

Yeah, yeah, of course, of course.

[Chris Cuomo]

But look, I'm being patient. I'm trying to get into the region because I think the situation deserves the coverage and the attention. So I'm taking it seriously and I believe that this matters and I believe it would be great if that regime were gone for them and for us. All right, brother, Be well. Sean in Virginia. How you doing?

[Caller Sean]

Hey, Chris, how are you doing this morning?

[Chris Cuomo]

Good, how you doing?

[Caller Sean]

Well, after listening to Greg, Will fired up. Let's hear actually just on Gerald R. Ford less than four months ago. I just retired from the Navy in February.

[Chris Cuomo]

First of all, thank you for your service and tell people what the Ford is.

[Caller Sean]

Gerald R. Ford is a U.S. aircraft carrier. It's the newest one. It's actually the lead in its class. But to hear someone in the United States say they would prefer a nuclear weapon be used on a foreign nation is asinine. But I still have friends on that ship and I understand what threat they are in right now. I'm constantly watching the news, trying to figure out what exactly going on and what my friends are facing. But we just had six service members die. And I was a veteran throughout all of Iraqi Freedom, Enduring Freedom, all of that. To see how that went and the amount of backlash and to basically quote you, the lack of give a fuck back in the United States of how those veterans fared and what that meant to those people and to just hear that we still are saying it doesn't matter, Trump's gonna kill them all. No, that's stupid. There's no reason that we should even have dealt with this. This could have been done a political way. This could have been done many ways. Do I think the regime needs to go? Yes, the regime is already gone. The problem is the build back and the plan going forward so that we don't have another repeat of Iraq, of Afghanistan. Hell, look at Ukraine, right?

[Chris Cuomo]

I mean, look, I think, I think you're nailing it, Sean. And of course you get the deference because you did the job. All right, Everybody likes to talk. You actually walked it and lived it for us. So thank you. But I think you're also putting your finger on what this is about. It's not about don't use force. It's not about they're not that bad. It's, you promised that you wouldn't get us into a situation that we couldn't control. And the wrong people wound up paying the price and we didn't really get the benefit out of it to justify anything like the sacrifice. And this does feel like that because it doesn't seem like it's precise, planned, thoughtful contingencies and how to make it be what they're telling us it will be, which is the Iranians taking their own fate in their hand. Do I have that right?

[Caller Sean]

So, yes and no. What I'm trying to get at is when it, when you say that it's not planned the people that are actually doing these operations, the actual tactical people that are doing it, and the operational people. Because there's three levels of war. There's tactical, operational, strategic. The tactical people that are actually flying these missions, they are very prepared. They know exactly what they're doing. The operational people, they understand the risk. They're. They're actually putting together all of the information and they know what they're supposed to be doing. The problem is the strategic political aspect of it is not well thought out. And there's no plan going forward.

[John Bolton]

And that's.

[Chris Cuomo]

That's exactly my concern. The problem is, that's exactly my concern. And every double speak, every, you know, every conflict of what one says versus the other, every time they don't tell us something, it starts to make us paranoid that here we go again. I get it. I did not have what it takes to serve the way you did. But I watched you guys up close and personal and lived with you as you served in Iraq and Afghanistan, in Pakistan. And I know the price that we paid and I don't want to see it happen again. I am with you. I wish you well in retirement and I hope you call in again. Support comes from select quo. Look, if you have responsibilities, you got to take care of them. And the big one is the God forbid what happens if I'm not here for them. That's life insurance. Life insurance is scary. Why? It means I'm gonna die. Okay. Why else once you decide to not be a child? Well, it's expensive and it's complicated and I think they're scamming me. That's why selectquote.com matters. They've been doing it a long time. They do it well. And the brokers work for you. They work on salary. They don't get paid based on just what they sell you. Okay? And if you go to selectquote.com, you're gonna see why. They've placed billions for decades and so many thousands of people have given them good reviews. If you're young and healthy, you can get it done almost entirely online. Maybe entirely online if you're not. They work with all kinds of partners that work with pre existing conditions. They figure out what you need and what you can afford so that you can have peace of mind. Life insurance is never going to be cheaper than it will be if you do it today. Get the right life insurance for you for less and Save more than [e-mail] Chris C. Save more than 50% on term life [e-mail] Chris C. Today to get started, TC in Massachusetts. TC the only thing I don't want to hear from you is. Come on, Como, you know the regime is no good. Everybody knows they're no good. Everybody knows they got to go. How? And then what? Those are my concerns.

[Caller D]

Are you done?

[Chris Cuomo]

Oh, yeah, I'm done. I'm just getting warmed up. Go ahead.

[Caller D]

Good, good. First, you know, I'm painting cabinets here, minding my own business as usual, and, yeah, I gotta hear you call my name out, and all of a sudden I get the shakes and I hit the paint on the hinge, and now I gotta fix things up. So I'm sure you're happy about that, right?

[Chris Cuomo]

Do you paint the backs of your

[Caller D]

cabinets front and back?

[Caller Sean]

Absolutely.

[Chris Cuomo]

Respect. Respect the backs.

[Caller Greg]

Yes. Yes, sir.

[Caller D]

All right, first, I just got to come at this. These callers that call in and say, Democrats got to get tougher, we got to get mean. Republicans are the bad guys. They're the mean, mean, mean. Yet they tried to impeach the guy twice, throw him in jail, like four times, call him Hitler, Peter racist. Oh, by the way, they shot him. I mean, how much tougher can the Democrats get? Chris, how are they better than we?

[Chris Cuomo]

I don't think they are. I don't think that's the way to do it. I gotta give voice.

[Caller D]

We're the worst.

[Chris Cuomo]

Hold on a second. I never said anybody. I don't do we. I don't do us and them, okay? I'm not part of your stupid little game of one side against the other. I hate the game. I want to destroy.

[Caller D]

Republicans are worse than Democrats.

[Chris Cuomo]

I believe that the two parties.

[Caller F]

Hold on.

[Chris Cuomo]

I'll tell you what I think. I don't think the sides are equal, and I'll tell you why. I have never seen a party consumed by the fringe movement the way the Republican Party has been consumed by maga. And I believe that MAGA at its worst, which we have seen manifested again and again, is more of a threat than an army of chicks with dicks playing sports against other females. I'm not as worried about that as I am about what I see happening here in terms of our Constitution and our democracy. But that doesn't mean I want to see Democrats be more like Trump and have more of a fist fight. I think that it's just making us worse, not better.

[Caller D]

Yeah, but Republicans, I mean, Democrats do stupid shit constitutional wise. Like they say Obama did this war thing and then there wasn't Congress and all. I mean, Democrats got rid of the filibuster for the judges. I mean, you know, they participate in all this madness, Chris. It is a.

[Chris Cuomo]

They have a right. I said. I didn't say they're good. I said that I think that one fringe has more of a threat profile. That's all. I'm not in the land of good. I'm in the land of flavors of bad.

[Caller D]

Well, all right. I'm just saying that they're just as bad. We need more parties. But to save for the callers to call in and say they got to get tougher. I don't know how much tougher they can get us. I don't know what more they expect him to do. Kill the guy.

[Chris Cuomo]

I don't disagree. I don't disagree. Give me another point.

[Caller D]

All right, quick. On Iran. I don't know, Chris. I don't know what I think if I'm for this or against it, because we don't know how it's going to end. You never do. It is.

[Chris Cuomo]

You don't have to be for or against it. You don't have to be for or against it. You're in the exact right place. You are curious, you are concerned, and you want to make sure that you're being told what it is and it makes sense to you. That's the right place to be. You don't have to be for or against.

[Caller D]

Right, Right. I want to see it end well, which I'm sure a lot of Democrats don't want to see this end. Well, if you want to be honest, Chris, they would rather see this thing end up in a shit show than us get a regime change. Even if we get it and everything comes out roses, they're going to complain about something, you know, that too many people died or whatnot.

[Caller Sean]

They're not going to give the credit.

[Caller D]

Let's see what happens. It's either going to be he's either going to be a hero or a zero. One of the two, I don't know.

[John Bolton]

He's going to be.

[Chris Cuomo]

He's going to be both. He's going to be both. It's just about the basis and how much the needle moves away from just the bases to critical thinkers and independents and how they feel about it. All I'm saying is this is the biggest swing he's taken as president. Okay? And it's dicey. Of course it's dicey. And he promised that he wasn't going to be about this. So I get why some in MAGA are pissed off, but we gotta see how it goes. And with that, though that doesn't mean I just watch and wait and don't ask the questions when they seem to be screwing up. Like, for instance, they know exactly what happened with that girl's school. They know whether it was the irgc, whether it was the IDF or whether it was the United States. They know. Just own it.

[Caller F]

But doesn't their silence give you the answer?

[Chris Cuomo]

It gives me the answer that they don't want to talk about it because that could mean that it's IDF or us.

[Caller F]

Right, but if it was Iran or

[Chris Cuomo]

gc, yeah, they would say.

[Caller F]

They would say silence is everything.

[Chris Cuomo]

You know, I don't want. Look, I mean, everybody knows how this played out in Gaza. You gotta own your mistakes. Otherwise you look like you wanted them. And I don't think America needs that right now in terms of questioning the motivations of this president. He just went into Ecuador. People are seeing that as an in, you know, as a declaration of war. I don't think it is. They're working with Honduran authorities. That is a huge distinction. And they are dealing with what, drug cartels?

[Caller F]

You got to agree with TC on the fact that the Democrats definitely are salivating at the fact that if this has any negativity in any way, they're going to consider it a win for them.

[Chris Cuomo]

Of course. But that's the nature of our politics. It is a binary battle to the bottom of which side is worse. I mean, look at it with our health care, which was supposed to be the big war, by the way, the domestic agenda. Fix America first. That's where we should be. But we're not, right? Why? Because that's too hard. It's easier to go to war in Iran than it is to fix health care. Think about that. The regime is an easier opponent than the health care companies.

[Caller F]

That's crazy.

[Chris Cuomo]

Think about that. Think about it. So what do the Republicans do? Obamacare sucks. Obamacare sucks. You ever done anything to try to make it better? No. We've tried to repeal it 75 times. Do you have a plan to make it better? No, but it sucks. You see what I'm saying? Jay in North Carolina.

[Caller Jay]

Hey, thanks for taking my call. I wanted to bring up a couple quick things. One, for the families of the six service members that were murdered over the weekend. I really hate that for them. When I was on active duty, my wife used to to say that she. Her biggest fear was seeing the first sergeant company commander and the chaplain get out of the car and walk up our driveway. But she said the absolute worst thing was Being two doors down for a play date with our friend's daughter when the car pulled up. So certainly feel for those families and I want to, want to send out our deepest thoughts for them. And I do hope President Trump and as many people as possible were there when the caskets arrived at Dover. But I wanted to see what your thoughts were on the Saudi Arabia side of this. I think there's a wider play. I think one of my last jobs was foreign disclosure classification management and the sale of arms and weapon systems to foreign countries. And one of the things that we talked about a lot was if there was regime change in Iran, could Saudi Arabia assist in that? And when I saw that there was, the embassy in Riyadh had been hit, my first thought was, well, this is how they execute the regime change. Because if we can have Saudi Arabia on our side and then deal, let them deal with the regime change, we could potentially not only have two solid allies in the Middle east, but we could also cut off a lot of China's oil.

[Chris Cuomo]

Yeah, there's no question. But we do have the Saudis, as

[Caller Jay]

we know, China and Russia.

[Chris Cuomo]

But Jay, as you know, Saudi has never been closer to America's interest than right now with Trump. Now, is there good reason and suspicious reason for that? Yes. But we are where we are, so you play it where it lies. Right. And they hate Iran, as we all know, and they want to help America, which we all know. Why is part of the conversation. And they can help with the oil flow. It's just that if there's an attack in the Strait of Hormuz, that changes the calculation. But I don't think there's any question that the Saudis are going to help us. I think the big and vexing question is what happens after this? Is it this regime or is it something else? And if it's something else, what is that something else? You know, those are big questions that you gotta think about a lot.

[Caller Jay]

If we allow the Saudis to help facilitate that regime change, then it looks less like a heavy handed American regime change and more like an organic Middle Eastern regime change. And that might be why that is true.

[Chris Cuomo]

But external is still a concern and they hate the Saudis there. There are a lot of people that have real problems with the Sauds for very deep ethnic and cultural reasons. That's why dealing with the Iranian Kurds, I think is a better bet in terms of forming a coalition. But I just wish that they had been working on this. If this is months in the planning, why wasn't that part. The best measure of where we are as a society is hearing from other members of that society in conversation. That has some cogency to it, some intelligence, not just, what do you think about Greenland? It's not about provocation, okay? It's about conversation. That's what we're getting after here on the YouTube channel for the Chris Cuomo project on News Nation, where I'm doing my cable show, and Sirius XM Potish, channel 124 for Cuomo in the mornings. Bon appetit.

[Caller D]

Ra.